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With that, the app suggests vocal exercises similar to what an average speech coach would use. Field-Thompson said Speeko then takes the recording and shows the user how they scored based on six different metrics. The app works by first listening to the user speak. RELATED: Student-run startup gives students business resources Everyone is comfortable with their phones, so our goal is build a tool that really gets them excited to take that first step.” 1 thing experts say you should do to overcome this fear is practice, and that’s a big barrier for people, especially students,” Pham said. Pham said Speeko seeks to aid public speakers by providing a highly accessible tool that encourages users to practice. Together, the team recently worked to be one of 10 companies selected by Techstars, a global startup accelerator that provides teams with workspace and access to a mentor network for a three-month program. Today the company has five members: cofounders Aguilar and Pham, Will Field-Thompson, Chief Data Officer Cameron Faeber, and Chief Operating Officer Nicole Cook. They have also garnered a number of awards, such as the Rose Francis Elevator Pitch Competition and JPEC Business Model Competition in 2017.įor more on Speeko, visit the link above or visit their site here.Aguilar partnered with classmate and best friend Anthony Pham to develop Speeko over the course of two years. The pair, along with partner and co-founder Will Field-Thompson, have grown Speeko with help from UI?s John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center. They decided to bring their shared their love of technology and digital hardware to bear on a field they saw as wide open. Common problems areas such as pace, pitch and word choice are improved as a person works through the skill-building exercises and challenges that meet their needs.Īguilar met Pham, who also has his MD from the UI Carver College of Medicine, while both were undergrads. My mind just went blank, and I totally botched my presentation.?Īguilar joined forces with current UI graduate student Anthony Pham to develop the app, which uses artificial intelligence to help analyze a user?s voice and provide them with tailored feedback. ?My palms were sweaty, my breath stopped. ?I had a full-on anxiety attack in front of my entire rhetoric class,? remembers Aguilar, who received his BS in 2011 and his MPH in 2014 at UI.
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In a profile on Iowa Now, Aguilar recalls just how debilitating the situation was. Nico Aguilar was inspired to create Speeko after his own nerve-wracking experience with public speaking while an undergraduate at Iowa. Enter two University of Iowa grads who have developed Speeko, an app designed to improve communication skills from the comfort of one?s mobile device.
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Dale Carnegie made a mint off of people like you.īut this is the 21 st century, where the idea of sitting down with a copy of How to Win Friends and Influence People or signing up for a Toastmasters course might not square with most people?s lifestyles. You are about to speak in public, and, like many people would be, you?re tightly wound ball of nerves sure that nothing but failure and humiliation lie ahead. Your mind races ever faster, even as it tries to telegraph calm. Your collar seems tight around your neck. Your body temperature rises uncomfortably. You breathe sharp, shallow and quickly as your eyes dart around the room.
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